A year of withering and flourishing, a hundred days pass in the blink of an eye.
Over ninety days had vanished since the appearance of the Emperor's Tomb.
From the Demon Abyss and the North Sea to the East Desolation and the Central Plains...
Demons, beasts, humans, spirits, and even evil cultivators...
All were prepared, gathered outside the tomb gates.
A motley crowd of people swarmed before the eight gates.
The eight stone steles had given rise to eight temporary sleepless cities.
The clamor of the day transitioned into the brilliant lights of the night.
The tide of demons in the Black Sand Sea stood ready, their morale high under the leadership of the demon son, Bai Mang, and the heavenly demon race.
At the Divine Moon Pool, the beast tide roared as the Beast God Bai Ze appeared to encourage the remnants of the Eight Great Thrones.
He told them that they were the last hope of the East Desolation beast race, urging them to go forth bravely and reclaim their former glory...
The demon tide in the North Sea was in high spirits as the descendants of the great demons of the Eight Sacred Islands gathered together.
Fearlessness and a domineering aura filled the eyes of the younger generation, who saw only a guaranteed victory...
Competing?
What could the ants across the sea possibly use to compete with them?
The gate in Jiangnan was dominated by the disciples of the Three Sects and Seven Schools, a massive and imposing crowd.
Some recited poetry to express their feelings through the scenery, while others sang softly of love.
In the far north, outside the Demon Suppression Abyss, and along the shores of the East Sea, rogue cultivators gathered and spirits appeared, while disciples of the various sacred lands stood cold as frost, ready to move.
Outside Broken Sword Mountain, the cloud boats of the Wendao Sword Sect arrived as scheduled.
Over a thousand disciples.
Led by Xu Xian, they arrived on hundreds of cloud boats, creating a grand spectacle that seemed to blot out the sun with a thousand sails.
The appearance of the Wendao Sword Sect instantly ignited the crowd outside Broken Sword Mountain.
"Look... it's the Wendao Sword Sect."
"The Wendao Sword Sect has finally arrived after all..."
"How could the Wendao Sword Sect be absent from such a monumental world event?"
"The Golden Generation is truly something to look forward to."
"A pity... their numbers are small, only a few thousand disciples."
"A few thousand? I doubt they even have two thousand."
"Don't look at the numbers; they are all elites. One of them could take on a hundred like you without any problem."
"Nonsense. A hundred? You think too highly of me."
Although the Wendao Sword Sect was famous and the Golden Generation was renowned throughout the world, the sect still couldn't compare to the Three Sects in terms of numbers, nor even the Seven Schools.
The Three Sects boasted millions of disciples.
The younger generation they sent to the Emperor's Tomb was counted in the hundreds of thousands, and even the Mo Gate, which had the fewest members among the Six Schools, had nearly ten thousand people.
Yet the Wendao Sword Sect, the head of the Seven Schools and a colossus that had dominated the world for ten thousand years, had brought fewer than two thousand disciples.
Naturally, people had their own opinions.
The spectacle was grand, but only in comparison to rogue cultivators and minor sects.
It fell short of the expectations people held.
It was a bit too little.
However, everyone also knew that the Wendao Sword Sect had always followed the path of the elite.
Any disciple plucked from the Wendao Sword Sect was a presence that could sweep through their peers.
Two thousand disciples.
It was enough.
Years ago, when ten thousand swords hung over the southern sky, did the entire Central Plains not fall silent, not daring to make a sound?
Waiting.
In these final days, time moved slowly.
Outside Broken Sword Mountain.
With the arrival of the Wendao Sword Sect, the previously chaotic situation calmed down.
The cultivators here suddenly became very reasonable and polite.
The private brawls vanished.
Even those who usually boasted became quiet.
The peaceful atmosphere was enough to make one emotional.
In the face of overwhelming power, human arrogance and lawlessness could be cured.
Not only had Xu Xian arrived.
Ye Xianyu had also come, personally overseeing the area outside Broken Sword Mountain. She sat all day on the mast of a cloud boat, resting her sword across her knees with her eyes closed to nurture her spirit.
It was as if her sword would unsheathe and split the world asunder the moment anyone dared to cause trouble.
The deterrence was absolute!
The other patriarchs in the sect weren't idle either; several senior brothers had left the sect to quietly lie in wait outside the various tomb gates.
Even the two Guest Elders at the tribulation transcendence stage, Qiaofu and Yuren, had moved.
Their goal was simple.
If Xu Xian failed in this journey and the so-called opportunity of the Emperor's Tomb was snatched by another race, they wouldn't mind stepping in to nip the threat in the bud.
Of course.
The Central Plains and the North Sea were exceptions.
For one, it was hard to fight them; they were all humans, and the Wendao Sword Sect considered itself the righteous path of humanity. How could they turn their blades inward?
That would go against the original intention of the Master when he founded the Wendao Sword Sect.
As for the other, they simply couldn't win. Any of the demon immortals from the North Sea could sweep through most of Fanzhou.
Normally, they respected the boundary line of the North Sea and never crossed it, living in peace.
But if they were provoked to the point of desperation, the swords of the Wendao Sword Sect might not be able to stop them.
Unless their Master personally intervened, everyone had to avoid their sharp edge.
Furthermore, they were hidden outside those tomb gates to adapt to any changes and respond immediately to any anomalies.
For example...
If a fight broke out, they could take the opportunity to stir up global conflict.
Or perhaps...
The disciples who entered through the gate at Broken Sword Mountain might emerge from another gate.
Even if things might not turn out that way, they had to be prepared.
At the very least, the Wendao Sword Sect shared the same absolute confidence as the demons of the Demon Abyss.
They were certain that Xu Xian would return in triumph.
And more likely than not, he would take everything for himself.
His strength was beyond question; sweeping through a generation was an easy task for him.
His character was even more predictable.
When he did something, he either didn't do it at all or he did it thoroughly. It wouldn't be surprising if he slaughtered everyone else.
He was truly capable of such a thing.
Therefore...
As his senior brothers and sisters, they had to do something, or at least be prepared to clean up his messes.
Xu Xian was quite frustrated by this.
He felt that his senior brothers and sisters had a misunderstanding of his character.
But he didn't explain, because the prejudice in people's hearts was like a great mountain...
...
As the dusk of the hundredth day approached, the crowd became restless for no reason.
As the setting sun lingered, painting the sky, Xu Xian sat bored on the cloud boat, drinking wine and quietly admiring the fading light.
Li Qingshan had come to scrounge for wine again, his skin growing thicker by the day.
As for the so-called Golden Generation, some were dozing off while others were acting cool. It was unclear whose influence they were under, but they didn't have the slightest sense of tension or crisis.
Xu Xian felt a slight gloom.
"These children are still too simple," he lamented for some reason.
Li Qingshan secretly mocked him. "Simple? How can anything related to you, Xu Xian, be simple?"
"I don't appreciate that tone."
Li Qingshan didn't bother explaining.
Every single one of these kids had more schemes than the last. Simple? Non-existent.
Suddenly.
Lu Yuan, who had been posing, raised his head to stare at the clouds. Chu Yi stood by the deck railing, looked back, and shouted:
"Uncle, the tomb gate is reacting!"
Upon hearing her voice, everyone on the ship stood up and crowded forward. The world under the twilight became even more clamorous.
Xu Xian took a small sip, smacked his lips, and slowly walked over to Xia Chu Yi's side. First, he said one thing.
"How many times have I told you? In public, use my official title."
Then he also looked toward the sky, where the dark tomb gate began to glow in the rays of the setting sun.
A brilliant aurora surged, overpowering the drifting clouds.
The tomb gate...
It was open!
Xu Xian took a large gulp of wine, his brow furrowed. "It's here."
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